PROMOTIONAL EXAMINATION

9-6510

PROBATION OFFICER TRAINEE

http://www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Civil-Service

· LAST FILING DATE: APRIL 3, 2024

· WRITTEN TEST DATE: MAY 11, 2024

· COUNTY ANNUAL SALARY $44,187

· GRADE 19 (Bargaining Unit 16)

SPECIFICATION # 6510

APPLICATION PROCESSING FEE and FEE WAIVER

The application-processing fee is $125. Application may be made via the internet at www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Civil-Service. Payment must be made by VISA or MasterCard credit card and there will be an additional convenience fee of $1.95. An acknowledgement of receipt of application will be sent to all internet applicants via e-mail. The application processing fee is non-refundable and non-transferable.

The application processing fee may be waived for Suffolk County residents who are veterans, active duty military, members of the reserves or National Guard, auxiliary police, firefighters, members in good standing of a local fire district or ambulance company, members of a Volunteer Fire Department and volunteer CERT members. Internet applicants should complete the “Request for Application Fee Waiver and Certification” form online. All claims for application fee waiver are subject to verification.

DUTIES

This is a one-year traineeship used to appoint individuals to an entry-level Probation Officer position. Under direct supervision, an employee in this class assists in the performance of professional probation work related to the Intake, Investigation and Supervision functions in the Probation Department. Trainees receive continuous on-the-job training while performing duties of a limited professional nature. The term of probation is one (1) year, during which time incumbents will be required to satisfactorily complete a supervised in-service training program regarding the investigation, supervision, coaching and counseling duties and responsibilities of a Probation Officer. All work receives close and continuing supervision by superiors through consultations and observations of office and field activities. Upon successful completion of the one (1) year traineeship, the incumbent achieves permanent competitive status as a Probation Officer without further examination. A Probation Officer Trainee is a Peace Officer pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law Section 2.10 and may be authorized to carry a firearm in the performance of his/her duties. Does related work as required.

*The probationary period will be one (1) year, in accordance with this specification and Suffolk County CS Rule 14.2 defining the Probationary Term for Traineeships, prevailing over Rule 14.3 Promotion for other than Law Enforcement Positions.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

To be eligible, a candidate must now be serving and have served on a continuous basis with permanent or contingent permanent competitive status as a Probation Assistant or Probation Assistant (Spanish Speaking) for at least one (1) year in the Suffolk County Probation Department plus graduation from a college with federally authorized accreditation or registration by New York State with a Bachelor's Degree** or higher, including at least thirty (30) credit hours in the social or behavioral sciences.

**Candidates enrolled in their final semester of baccalaureate studies will be permitted to compete in this examination on a pending basis. Pending candidates who fail to complete all degree requirements by June 30, 2024 will be disqualified from the competition and all pending candidates passing the examination must furnish proof that degree requirements were completed by this date.)

Notes: Social science includes areas of study concerned with humans living in relation to other humans in a social environment such as anthropology, criminal justice, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology and sociology. Behavioral science is a subset of social science characterized by observation of the behavior of living organisms and focused on human social behavior such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, counseling, criminal justice, gerontology, human behavior, social work/social welfare and vocational rehabilitation.

Necessary Special Requirements

At the time of appointment and during employment in this title employees must possess a valid license to operate a motor vehicle in New York State. Candidates must be a United States Citizen at the time of appointment. Candidates will be required to successfully complete the State Requirements of Peace Officer Training and Firearms Training as per New York State Criminal Procedure Law, § 2.30.

**Please attach to the application a copy of your college transcript(s) which must have your name, college name, and date of graduation printed on it by the institution. Grade reports, incomplete transcripts and other similar documents are unacceptable.

SCOPE OF THE EXAMINATION

This examination will consist of three parts:

I. The written test will cover knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in such areas as:

1. Evaluating conclusions in light of known facts;

2. Understanding and interpreting written material;

3. Client interviewing;

4. Preparing written material.

II. Medical/physical evaluation – As the needs of the service require, candidates who pass the written test will be called for a qualifying medical/physical evaluation. (Medical and physical fitness standards appear on page 3 of this announcement.)

III. Personality/psychological evaluation – As the needs of the service require, candidates who pass the written test will be called for a qualifying personality/psychological evaluation.

Note: The medical/physical and personality/psychological standards are subject to change without notice to candidates. Failure or failure to appear as scheduled for any of these tests or evaluations will result in the elimination of a candidate’s application from further consideration for purposes of this competition.

NOTES

1. Should it become necessary to amend any part of this announcement, the Department of Civil Service reserves the right to make such amendment on the Department’s web page without notification to applicants. The most current copy of this announcement is available during the filing period at www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Civil-Service.

2. Candidates who apply for this examination and who have not heard from the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service by May 8, 2024 are advised to contact the Department before the written test date at (631) 853-5500.

LOCAL

DATE PREPARED: December 12, 2023

GENERAL CONDITIONS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT

1. Application may be made using the Suffolk County Application for Promotional Examination (Form CS-203).

2. Applicants may complete a “Request for Application Fee Waiver and Certification” form and submit it with Form CS-203.

3. Unless otherwise stated, candidates must meet the minimum qualifications by the date of the written test, or last filing date in the case of training and experience evaluations. Unless otherwise stated, part-time experience will be pro-rated.

4. Candidates found ineligible to compete in the written examination may appeal to the Department of Civil Service for reconsideration prior to the last filing date appearing on this announcement. Appeals received on or after the last filing date will not be considered.

5. Candidates who fail the examination, or who fail to appear for the examination as scheduled, will be eliminated from further consideration for purposes of this competition. Unless otherwise specified, the final rank order of the eligible list will be determined on the basis of the scores received on the written test, plus seniority and veterans' credits where appropriate.

6. Eligible applicants will be notified when and where to appear for examination. If an application is rejected, due notice will be sent.

7. Unless specifically prohibited by the examination instructions, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand-held, solar or battery-powered calculators. Devices with typewriter keyboards, spell-checkers, personal digital assistants, address books, language translators, dictionaries and any similar devices are prohibited.

8. Eligible lists resulting from promotional examinations are only certified to the jurisdiction in which a candidate is employed. In accordance with Section 52 of the Civil Service Law, for county service, first consideration in appointment will be given to employees in the department where a vacancy occurs after which appointments will be made from the general eligible list.

9. When an examination is prepared and rated by the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service, the provisions of the Suffolk County Civil Service Rules dealing with the rating of examination will apply.

10. When the examination is prepared and rated by the New York State Department of Civil Service in accordance with Section 23-2 of the Civil Service Law, the provisions of the New York State Civil Service Rules and Regulations which deal with the rating of examination will apply.

11. The eligible list established as a result of this examination will remain in force for at least one year and may be extended by the Department of Civil Service for a maximum of four years. Changing conditions may make it necessary to certify to future vacancies at higher or lower salaries than those announced.

12. Information regarding eligibility for veterans' credits appears on the promotional application form.

13. For each six months of continuous permanent competitive service within the jurisdiction, to a maximum of 20 years, .10 credits for seniority will be added to the scores of passing candidates only.

14. Inquiries may be made as to character and ability and all statements made by candidates are subject to verification. Some employers may require the candidate to be fingerprinted and to pass a background investigation.

15. Candidates must be medically, physically and psychologically capable of performing the duties of the job. Candidates who are appointed to positions in the Suffolk County service may be required to pass qualifying medical and/or physical and/or psychological evaluations.

16. Saturday Sabbath Observers and handicapped persons: If special arrangements for testing are required, indicate this on your application.

17. No smoking is permitted in the building or on the grounds of the examination site.

18. If you will be on active military duty with the armed forces of the United States on the date of this test, please contact the Department of Civil Service before the last filing date appearing on this announcement for alternate test date information.

19. Multiple Examinations Scheduled for the Same Date: If you have applied to take a written test announced by either one or several local jurisdictions (county, towns, city) scheduled to be held on the same test date as this written test, you must notify each of the local jurisdictions no later than two weeks before the test date, so they can make arrangements for taking all test at one test site. All examinations for positions in State government will be held at a State examination center. If you have any questions please call the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service at (631) 853-5500.

20. For information regarding a weather-related cancellation of this examination, please refer to our website at www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/CivilService and click on the “Weather Related Exam Cancellations” link. Civil Service Announcements are shown at the bottom of that page. Also check News 12 Long Island for notice of cancellation of this examination: NEWS 12 LONG ISLAND, TV CHANNEL 12 or at their website: www.news12.com.

Suffolk County Department of Civil Service

725 Veterans Memorial Highway

William J. Lindsay County Complex, Bldg. # 158

P. O. Box 6100

Hauppauge, NY 11788-0099, Phone (631) 853-5500

SUFFOLK COUNTY OFFICE OF EMPLOYEE MEDICAL REVIEW

MEDICAL AND PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

PROBATION OFFICER TRAINEE

_______________________________________________________________________

Weight: Weight should not interfere with candidate’s ability to perform the duties of the position.

Vision: Candidates must have uncorrected vision of no worse than 20/100 in each eye, and must be correctable to 20/30 binocular. Binocular peripheral vision should not be less than 170 degrees.

Color Vision: Perception of color is deemed acceptable if the candidate correctly reads 9 or more of the first 13 plates of the 24-plate edition of the Ishihara Test. If the candidate’s color perception is deemed unacceptable through the use of said test and he/she believes the results to be incorrect, such an individual may at his/her own expense take the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue Test under the supervision of an ophthalmologist having the proper equipment and utilizing the standards established by the Municipal Police Training Council.

Hearing: The average hearing level (HL) for the 3 test frequencies of 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz will not exceed 25 dB in either ear, and no single hearing level will exceed 30 dB at any of these 3 test frequencies in either ear. Hearing loss at 3000 will not exceed 40 dB HL in either ear. Use of hearing aid is permitted and should correct the deficiency so the binaural haring loss in the combined frequency level of 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz is no greater than 15%. Candidates with hearing aids, at their own expense, must provide evidence from a licensed audiologist, using functional gain or real ear measurements, that their aid(s) meet the stipulated manufacturer standards.

Speech: Significant speech pathology interfering with communications will be considered disqualifying. Speech must be clear and intelligible.

Cardiovascular Health: Candidates must be free of chronically disabling conditions that would interfere with the performance of required duties; uncontrolled high blood pressure will be restricted pending remediation.

Respiratory Health: The respiratory system must be free of chronically disabling conditions that would interfere with the candidate’s performance of required duties.

Endocrine & Metabolic: Candidates having a condition or disorder that may affect job performance will be evaluated on a case-by-case assessment including control of disorder, and the presence and severity of symptoms and/or complications. Ability to perform shift work and overtime will be assessed.

Neurological Health: Candidates must be free of neurological disorders that may affect job performance. Candidates with epilepsy seizure disorders must provide evidence of one-year seizure free history with or without drug control.

Musculoskeletal Health: Candidates must have no defects, deformities or disorders that will interfere with the candidate’s ability to perform the essential functions of the position. The use of prostheses or braces is allowed as long as the candidate can perform the full range of duties of the position and no security risk is posed.

Gastrointestinal Health: Candidates must be free of gastrointestinal disorders or deformities that would interfere with the performance of job duties.

Mental Health: Candidates must be free of mental illness, serious emotional disturbances or nervous disorders, drug dependence or abuse that would interfere with the performance of their duties.

General Medical Statement: Candidates must be free of any medical and/or mental health condition which would jeopardize safety and health of the public and/or other employees. Candidates with communicable disease will be disqualified until condition becomes corrected or controlled. Ability to perform shift work and overtime will be assessed.

Physical Fitness: Candidates will be asked to demonstrate physical fitness through tests of strength, flexibility and endurance. A limited agility test will be performed to evaluate physical fitness level.

* The medical and physical requirements are subject to change. 12/2023